Editor-in-Chief

The search for a new athletic director at CSU Bakersfield came to an end on Thursday as President Horace Mitchell announced at a press conference in a packed Icardo Room that Kenneth Siegfried is the new athletics director for the Roadrunners.
Siegfried, 34, becomes the third athletics director for CSUB since starting intercollegiate sports in 1971.
“I’m so excited,” Siegfried said. “It’s a dream come true, and it’s not because I always wanted to be a Division I athletics director. It is because I know what we are going to do here. I know the impact that I can have on our staff, on our coaches, on our student-athletes and our students in general and that’s what I’m excited about.”
Siegfried said when he first found out that he was going to be the AD, he was emotional and that when Vice President of Student Affairs, Thomas Wallace, first told him he was at a loss for words.

“It took a little while to sink in and it’s still now sinking in because before this press conference nothing was official,” he said. “Then I started seeing reports that it was official but they were very clear with me that nothing was official until the press conference today, so now it’s really hitting.”
Siegfried attended the University of Memphis where he earned a bachelor’s degree in education and sports management. He earned his master of science degree in sports administration from Middle Tennessee State University and is nearing the completion of his doctorate with an emphasis on leadership in higher education as well.
Before coming to CSUB, he worked at Memphis for eight years. During his time at Memphis, he served on the senior staff of the athletics department and was also on the university fundraising leadership team.
After the resignation of former athletics director Jeff Konya in July 2014, Siegfried stepped in as CSUB’s interim athletics director for this past year, and the Roadrunners reached new heights competitively. CSUB made it to four Western Athletic Conference championship games and won the school’s first two WAC championships.
Mitchell said that what separated Siegfried from other candidates is his passion for CSUB, the community, the student-athletes and higher education.
“He has had the experience here running the program,” Mitchell said. “People know him, people trust him and he brings the kind of leadership that all of us in the administration have been looking for.”
Mitchell felt that Siegfried was prepared for this position.
“The presentation he made here today at the press conference was further indication of his readiness, his commitment to the community and as well as his vision he has are all really important to us. He understands the need to have the right culture.”
Siegfried said that what he thought seperated from other candidates is that he wanted to be at CSUB.
“I didn’t want to just be an athletics director, I wanted to be an athletics director in Bakersfield,” he said. “I want to make an impact here.”
Siegfried also added that the number one goal right now is to hire a baseball coach that is a good fit for CSUB and the second goal is to immediately get the facilities enhancement plan in place.